Five-star cleanliness reviews on Airbnb come from two things: consistency and the small details guests check first. Hair in the shower, crumbs in the toaster, a mark on a pillowcase or a stale smell will cost you a star far quicker than a slightly dated kitchen.
Airbnb asks guests to rate cleanliness separately from their overall rating, so it is one of the most visible scores on your listing. Hosts across Hull and East Yorkshire, from Old Town apartments to coastal cottages, can protect it with a clear routine, the right standards and a quick response when something slips.
Key takeaways
- Guests judge cleanliness within minutes of arriving, mostly in the bathroom, bedroom and kitchen.
- Hair, limescale, tired linen and lingering smells are the classic reasons hosts lose a star.
- A written checklist and photo reports keep standards the same whoever does the clean.
- Respond quickly and politely to any cleanliness complaint, then fix the cause.
How does the Airbnb cleanliness rating work?
After a stay, guests give an overall star rating and also rate specific categories, one of which is cleanliness. These category scores appear on your listing, so future guests can see at a glance how clean previous visitors found the place.
Cleanliness is one of the few categories entirely within your control. You can’t change your location or the size of the rooms, but you can make sure every guest finds the property spotless. That is why many hosts hand changeovers to a professional Airbnb cleaning service rather than squeezing them in around other commitments.
Guests also compare what they find with your photos and description. If your listing promises a bright, fresh space, a dusty skirting board or a tired sofa feels like a broken promise.
What Airbnb guests notice first
Most guests do an informal inspection soon after they arrive. They open the bathroom door, look at the bed, glance around the kitchen and notice how the place smells. Get these right and small imperfections elsewhere are far more likely to be forgiven.
- Smell: fresh and neutral, not heavily perfumed to mask something.
- Bathroom: no hair, no limescale, no mould on the sealant and gleaming taps.
- Bed: crisp, bright linen with no marks, hairs or creases.
- Kitchen: clear worktops, a clean hob, an empty fridge and nothing sticky.
- Floors: no crumbs, grit or sand underfoot.
- Touch points: door handles, light switches and remote controls that feel clean.
Bathrooms: where cleanliness reviews are won and lost
A bathroom shows dirt more than any other room. Bright tiles and chrome make every hair, water mark and speck of mould obvious, and guests are understandably sensitive about hygiene here.
- Remove hair from plugholes, shower trays, floors and around the toilet base at every changeover.
- Squeegee and buff glass screens so they dry without spots.
- Check silicone sealant and grout for black mould, and treat it early or have it replaced.
- Replace bath mats every stay, not just towels.
- Polish taps, shower heads and mirrors last for a finished look.
Hard water is common across Hull and East Yorkshire, so limescale returns quickly on taps and screens. Our guide to tackling limescale in hard water areas has practical fixes, and the bathroom deep clean guide covers grout and glass in more detail.
Beds and linen that feel hotel-fresh
The bed is the centrepiece of most listing photos and the place guests spend the most time. Grey, bobbled or marked linen suggests the whole property is not quite clean, even when it is.
- Use white or light linen that can be washed hot and stays bright.
- Fit mattress and pillow protectors and wash or swap them regularly.
- Check every pillowcase and duvet cover in good light before it goes on the bed.
- Run a lint roller over the bed once it is made to pick up stray hairs.
- Retire anything stained, thin or bobbled instead of hoping guests won’t notice.
Running out of fresh sets is a common cause of rushed, sloppy beds. Our advice on holiday let linen and laundry explains how many sets to keep and how to turn them around.
Kitchens, living areas and smells
In the kitchen, guests check the hob, the microwave, the fridge and anything they will eat from. Grease on cupboard handles or a crumb-filled cutlery drawer can feel more off-putting than an untidy living room.
- Empty and wipe the fridge, including the seals, at every changeover.
- Run crockery and cutlery through the dishwasher if there is any doubt.
- Clean inside the microwave and empty the toaster crumb tray.
- Wipe cupboard fronts, handles, the bin lid and the extractor hood.
Smells are harder to fix than visible dirt. Cooking odours, damp, smoke and pets linger in soft furnishings and carpets. Ventilate well during every clean, take bins outside, and if you accept pets, follow our tips on dealing with pet hair and odours. A periodic deep clean and professional carpet and upholstery cleaning lift what everyday cleaning can’t reach.
Build a repeatable Airbnb cleaning system
Hosts with consistently high cleanliness scores rarely rely on memory. They use the same checklist at every turnover, whoever is cleaning, so standards don’t drop on busy weekends or when a regular cleaner is away.
- Write it down. Start with our holiday let changeover checklist and adapt it to your property.
- Set a presentation standard. Photograph how each room should look, from towel folding to cushion placement.
- Ask for photo reports. A quick set of photos after each clean lets you check standards remotely.
- Schedule deeper tasks. Put ovens, carpets, curtains and mattresses on a calendar rather than waiting until someone notices.
- Read every review. Even a four-star cleanliness score tells you something, so look for patterns.
If you are bringing in outside help, our guide to choosing a cleaner you can trust explains what to check, from insurance to DBS checks.
Tip: Stay a night in your own listing every so often, or ask a friend to. Using the shower, sleeping in the bed and cooking a meal reveals things a quick inspection misses.
What to do when a guest complains about cleanliness
Even good hosts get the occasional complaint. How you respond matters as much as the problem itself.
- Reply quickly and politely. Thank the guest for telling you and avoid sounding defensive.
- Fix it during the stay if you can. Sending someone round to re-clean a bathroom or swap the linen can turn a poor review into a fair one.
- Ask for photos. They help you understand what went wrong and brief your cleaner.
- Find the cause. Was the changeover rushed, a task missing from the list, or a problem like mould that needs a repair?
- Respond to public reviews with care. Keep it short, factual and focused on what you have changed.
When we clean for hosts, our re-clean guarantee means that if something isn’t right, we come back and put it right.
Professional Airbnb cleaning in Hull and East Yorkshire
Consistent five-star cleanliness is much easier when changeovers are handled by a team that does them every day. Our Airbnb and holiday let cleaning covers city flats, cottages in Beverley and the surrounding villages, and coastal lets, seven days a week. Our cleaners are vetted, DBS-checked and insured, and every job is priced with a fixed quote before work starts.
To talk through your listing and booking calendar, get in touch with our team.
